The Story Of Zoe's Birth.....

*There is a very good reason that I am posting this story. Stick it out to the end and all will be revealed.*



As a little back story, I am not able to get pregnant on my own. It took us 2 1/2 years to get pregnant. After 1 year of trying I found out I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and had to take Clomid to become pregnant. So now onto the rest of the story.

My due date for Zoe was January 5th, 2008. That day came and went...nothing. I was not even close to dilating and she was still REALLY high. Another week went by and still nothing. Finally I was set up to be induced Monday, January 14th.

We got to the hospital around 9 pm and they gave me the Cervidil about 10 pm. They told me that the Cervidil would stay in for 12 hours then the doctor would come in, remove it and break my water. Instead, my water broke on it's own around 3:45 am. The nurse said that I had half an hour for my contractions to get strong enough and regular enough to impress her or I would get Pitocin.

A half hour later the nurse came in and shaking her head said she was definitely not impressed....LOL!! So I was introduced to the world of Pitocin. Now I have heard awful things about Pitocin and since I am such a baby about pain, I was way worried. By the way, have I mentioned that my plan was to try to go without pain meds. Ummm, yeah, WAY nervous!!

As it turns out I have a high tolerance to Pitocin. I was on it for just over 12 hours before I was in enough pain to ask for meds. The nurses were amazed. And even when I did ask, I didn't want the Epidural (needles are my enemy). So instead I got the IV drugs. (I was only 4cm at this point and Zoe was still very high.)

Sweet relief!!! Well, for a short time anyway. When the pain started to get unbearable again, I asked the nurse how long the drugs are suppose to last. When she said an hour, I told her it had been about an hour and I wanted MORE...LOL! As I was saying this my Doctor walked in looked at me and said, "Wouldn't you rather just get the epidural?" Well, being in so much pain, I just sighed "OK". I was worried about getting the epidural mostly because of the needle issue, but also because I was afraid it would slow down my labor. I was still only 4cm and I didn't think my labor needed to go any slower!!

So at about 6 pm Tuesday night I found the miracle known as the Epidural!! The relief came rapidly! I did have some side effects though. My blood pressure dropped causing me to be shaky and very nauseous. they had to give me meds to raise my blood pressure. The other side effect was less serious and in my opinion pretty funny. I lost all feeling in my right leg and it swelled up to twice its normal size. It was really weird to be able to see my leg, touch it, but could not move it to save my life. My left leg was completely numb but I could still move it. (The swelling went away within minutes of the epidural being turned off.)

My labor started to pick up the little pace then. I was starting to dilate again, but Zoe was still really high. The doctor even mentioned the big, bad "C" because she wasn't dropping. Well, I really didn't want that to happen so my new mission became doing whatever necessary. Which meant the nurses raising the head of the bed to almost 90 degrees and me facing it on my knees and then hanging over. And remember that I couldn't fell either leg and couldn't move the right one. Very uncomfortable. I even slept this way. But it worked!! She finally started moving down. YAY!!!

I was finally fully dilated around 5:15 am Wednesday morning!! The nurse and I both let out a little whoop. By the way, this nurse was the same nurse that was on Monday night when I was admitted. I had been in the hospital so long that she was back on shift again...LOL!!

The craziness began!! Other nurses started bringing in the bassinet and other equipment and the commotion woke Jarod and my SIL Jody (Iowa Geek) who was, thankfully, there to help. By that time I had already pushed a few times. But once everyone was fully awake, the pushing really began. Luckily I could feel my stomach harden during contractions so the epidural was allowed to stay, YAY!!

I remember becoming very focused while pushing. I was soooo tired and VERY ready for it all to be over. I really didn't talk to anyone between contractions except to look at Jarod and say, "Ice." for the ice chips. Towards the end I quit even saying it and would just look at him. I guess that I was so focused that I made really no noise. Jarod, Jody and the nurse all told me at one point that it was ok to make noises, but I just didn't for some reason.

Finally the nurse told me I had to stop pushing until the doctor got there. That really sucked!! I had to blow through 2 contractions and it became the only time I really said anything when I asked when the doctor was going to get there. And as luck would have it, as soon as the doctor got there, my contractions stalled!! With the nurse they were coming every minute or two. When the doctor got there we had to wait almost ten minutes. They continued to be sporadic. Eventually the doctor asked me if I wanted to try pushing without a contraction. He said that I was pushing so well that I wouldn't need the contractions.

So...at 7:19 am, Wednesday January 16th, Zoe was finally born!!!

I was really looking forward to holding her and feeding her right away. But, there was a problem. Zoe was born running a fever of 102 degrees. So after letting me hold her for about a minute, they took her right to the nursery to do blood work looking for an infection. Needless to say, I didn't get to hold her during my wheelchair ride in the private Mommy and Baby elevator to my room. It all turned out ok because her blood work came back fine and her fever broke easily. We stayed in the hospital until Friday and then brought our baby home.

We finally had our beautiful baby girl and for all you keeping track, here is a break down of the time. Admitted on Monday and released on Friday, so a whole week in the hospital. From the time my water broke until the time Zoe was born---27 1/2 hours!! I know they say the first one always takes longer, but I never expected that!! LOL!!

Ok, so now on to the burning question. Why did I write this post? Kristin at An Ordinary Life is giving away a JVC HD Camcorder. I really want to win this camera to record the major events in our lives. We are planning on trying to get pregnant again in a few months and would love to be able to capture all the gore, um I mean beauty of the moment. I also would love to be able to capture introducing Zoe to her new sibling when it happens as well. Of course, hubby will have to record that moment since I will be a blubbering mess! LOL!!

If you would like to enter to try to win this for your self, or just see the other entries, click here.